Royal Baby Names: Hollywood’s Little Princes and Princesses

As reported in the not always reliable Star magazine, NicoleRichie, mother of HarlowWinterKate, has at the top of her list of names for her baby-to-be Baron, inspired by Donald Trump’s little Barron. (Her other two published possibilities being Kypher and Martavious, about which I’ll restrain my comments). This is the latest evidence of a disturbing trendlet among celebs–Hollywood royalty taking their status literally and bestowing noble titles on their offspring.

So who are these little peers and peeresses of the realm?

At the top of the ranks would be King. Discounting Kingston Rossdale, whose nickname might be King, there is the son of rapper Jayceon (The Game) Taylor. Since The Game’s other nicknames include The CaliforniaKing and King of the West, what could be more logical than to have named his second son KingJustice?

Next in line to the throne would be a Prince. MichaelJackson liked the idea of starting a royal line so much that he named both his sons PrinceMichael Jackson–I born in 1997 and II (aka Blanket) in 2002. Not to be outdone, British model KatiePrice (aka Jordan) and pop star husband PeterAndre called their little princess Princess (“Princess because she is our little princess”) Tiaamii, with Mum expressing ing her intention of commemorating the regal birth by getting a Princess and crown tattoo on her neck.

BothDianeKeaton and Justine Bateman have sons named Duke, but somehow this name doesn’t project the same air of entitlement or pretension to royalty the others do, probably because Duke has long been used as a laid-back nickname name, and because it was so much associated with anything-but-aristocratic John Wayne–who got his nickname from the family dog that used to follow him around: the dog was known as “Big Duke” and young MarionMorrison as “Little Duke.”

A couple of celebs have used variations on the title Marquis. Rapper 50 Cent chose the Marquise version; DavidCaruso used Marquez–the surname of his son’s mother.

Though the British don’t have the rank of Count(it’s equivalent to an earl, and somehow My Name is Earl doesn’t have much of a royal ring)–show biz does. Never one to hide his light under a bushel, Danny Bonaduce has a son named CountDante Jean-Michel Valentineand a daughter called CountessIsabellaMichaela.

How much have other parents been picking up on this noble-name trend? Well, King, Prince, Princess, Baron, and three different spellings of Marquis are all on the current popularity list, but pretty near the bottom, each with under 500 anointed babies nationwide. And, personally–it would be fine with me if they didn’t rise any higher.